Page 32 of Rosie
Matt: I’m done at four today, so I think so.
Mia: Stop and get a half-gallon of two percent milk on your way home? She asked me last night if I had any so she could make her coffee today, and I told her I was out. But she’ll be sleeping so she won’t have time to get it herself.
Matt: Should I throw in apology flowers?
Mia: They couldn’t hurt. Especially if you tell her the reason you were so grumpy last week.
Matt: I’m not sure that’s a good idea.
Mia: Sigh. I’m a hopeless romantic, and you’re romantically hopeless.
Matt: I’d be lost without your guidance, Yoda.
Mia: Don’t waste the Jedi talk on me, Romeo. Just hand me a bow and arrow and call me Cupid. It was super hard to keep my mouth shut last night. You owe me.
Matt: Yes, Cupid.
With Valentine’s Day not far away, red roses were in several mixed bouquets at the grocery store. He grabbed the arrangement that looked the freshest and a half gallon of milk, then raced home. Mia had mentioned Rosie got up around five for her evening shift, so he made sure to get to her door around five-thirty.
He knocked and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened to reveal Rosie in blue scrub pants and a scrub top with multi-colored robots on it. Her hair was disheveled like she hadn’t brushed it yet. Green eyes widened when she saw what he carried.
Matt forced his tongue from the roof of his mouth to speak. “A little birdie told me you were out of milk.” He thrust the jug at her, unsure if he should go in or stay in the hall.
“Thank you. You’ve saved me a trip to the coffee shop.” She took the jug from him, her eyes on the blooms. “Who are the flowers for?”
“You,” he squeaked, then cleared his throat. “They’re for you. Because I was an ass last weekend at the tournament, and I feel terrible.” She accepted the bouquet with her other hand and eyed it with wonder. God, she must really think he hated her, to be so enraptured with flowers.
“You didn’t have to do that. I never wanted to be a distraction to the team.”
“It’s not your fault, and I should have told Keith to back off. Mia told me you were uncomfortable and … I should have stopped it.” Matt clenched his fists, frustrated at himself for not realizing at the time.
“I’m a big girl, Matt. I can handle myself. And he backed off once I told him ‘No.’ I just didn’t want to cause a rift in the team before we got the chance to compete.”
“I wouldn’t have cared,” he admitted softly. He shook his head to clear it. She still had to get to work. “Anyway, have a good shift. I’ll see you around.” Hope soared in his chest as she smiled and nodded.
“Thank you, Matt. Good night.”
“Night.” He waved as he made his way down the hall, and the door clicked shut softly behind him.
Rosie stared down at the beautiful mix of pink and red roses in wonder. No one had ever brought her flowers before, except Gram and Grandad when she graduated. She didn’t even have a vase! What was she going to put these in? She raced into her kitchen, threw the coffee pot on with her elbow, and put the milk away.
The empty wine bottle from girls’ night the previous evening sat next to her sink. She rinsed it thoroughly, then filled it with water and shoved the flower stems through the thin neck. They barely fit, but they looked amazing. Breathing in their scent, she made a mental note to snap a photo so she could always remember her first flowers.
And she hadn’t even been on a date!
The microwave clock showed five forty-five, which meant she was running behind. Running back into her bathroom as the coffee brewed, she brushed her teeth and her hair, then pulled it back into a ponytail to keep it out of her way on the hospital floor.
Pouring coffee into a thermos and adding her milk, she quickly ate a pack of breakfast cookies and chased them with the hot beverage. She really needed to bake more muffins this week. Another sniff and a quick picture of her roses, and she was out the door.
The hospital parking lot was hopping, and Rosie was grateful she hadn’t felt called to be a trauma nurse in the Emergency Department. Striding through the employee entrance, she prayed the NICU wasn’t as bad.
“Hi, Gabe. Hi, Andrea.” She greeted two coworkers at the nurses’ station when she came on the floor. They said their hellos and then Andrea left to take bedside report from Gabe, since she was replacing him that night.
Rosie checked her list of patients for the night. The only one she recognized was baby Jayden. Inwardly, she sighed. That poor thing just couldn’t catch a break.
Just then, Shannon came over, her long blonde braids swinging at her back. “Hey, Rosie! Guess who’s here?”
“Who?”
